


Vengeful son

by numbika



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Abusive Parents, Alternate Universe, Angst with a Happy Ending, Betrayal, Fights, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, Mental Health Issues, Purgatory, Revenge, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-02
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2020-04-06 18:38:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19068364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/numbika/pseuds/numbika
Summary: One of Gods previous creations comes back, hunting for his father, and makes contact with the Winchester family.





	1. Wayward son

There were Flashes of light, as the tethers and spiritual pathways leading towards Heaven snapped shut in an instance, and angels rained from the sky. At the same time the immense amount of unused free energy released was snatched up by a crack in the multiverse. The swirling power was forced into a vortex, inside of it with reality bubbled like a leaky lava lamp. Space bulged, popped, a man stepped out from the chaos and shook himself as it knitted itself together behind him. He wore a long coat with a cigarette stud slowly smoking in his mouth. With a lazy motion he let it fall and crunched it into the wet grass. He slowly breathed out the smoke and touched the eyepatch on his left eye, watching as the lights streaked down from the sky.  
-Father, you absolute ass.

The desperate prayer of Dean reverberated on the holy wavelengths, and angels around the country, though weakened from the fall, headed towards the source of the signal. Unfortunately, very few of them actually wanted to help. The one he found that had the intention to do so, was struggling to save Sams life in his hospital room, while another angelic power started to break havoc in the hospital. Dean hurried out of his room shouting for everyone in the building to evacuate, as the supernatural force shattered windows, and smashed in glass cases. Another angel was on in the hospital and it was pissed as all hells. Dean helped up the hospital counsellor from the floor. She tried to help him about Sam earlier, and now she got mixed up into an attack by a psychotic angel. That just wasn’t fair. As she steadied herself, the culprit behind the mayhem around them became obvious. A burly, bearded man, clutching an angel blade walked down in the corridor, with a stern expression on his face. 

Dean drew his own angel blade, ready to defend himself and the innocent bystander behind him, when the aforementioned innocent bystander knocked the blade out of his hand and grabbed him by the throat. Her grip was like iron, and she easily raised the struggling hunter up using only one of her hands. Apparently, she too, became possessed by an angel since the last time Dean seen him. The woman flicked her hand and threw the hunter against the wall with such force that the thud echoed in the hallway, and plaster cracked where he impacted.  
"You better start talking Dean. " Murmured slowly the angel inhabiting the counsellor's body. " Where is Castiel?"  
"Kiss my ass. I already told you lot I have no idea. " Coughed Dean from the pain spreading through his body and the angel, who was dressed in a flannel shirt, suspenders, and a baseball cap, stepped closer with his angel blade. The other angel raised her hand stopping him on his tracks.  
"No. He will talk, even if we have to beat it out of him. You don’t have to suffer more than necessary. Tell me where Castiel is and we kill you and your brother as quickly as possible. "  
"How kind, but I don’t kn…"Before he could finish it, the male angel stepped closer and hit him across the face. The force was enough to crack the side of his jaws. Blood started to seep into his mouth and the area immediately began to swell.  
"Where is Castiel? " Asked the erstwhile counsellor, as if nothing had happened. "You brothers don’t have to get punished for his sins. But somebody has to pay. " Before the other angel could have stepped closer to deliver another jaw shattering blow, a morose voice answered from behind them.  
"Yeah. Somebody has to. "

The flat statement was followed by the tell-tale hiss of a match striking a surface. The two angels turned towards the source of the sound at the same time. The man standing around halfway down the hall was about as tall as Dean and of an African descent. He wore a long faded green coat, that was torn around the edges. Under it he wore equally worn cargo pants, and a leather west covered in small pockets, one of which was opened, and a couple of cigarettes could be seen inside of it. The mans face was relatively unremarkable if ones ignores the eyepatch on his left eye, and a slight grey stubble around his mouth. He had short hair, only one or two centimetres, with hard edges, as if it was cut by someone who never had any kind of formal training, or much talent in it. The two angels froze in recognition. Dean never saw someone face change from cold contempt into unbridled flowing fear this fast before, and he had more than his fair share of dealings with overconfident supernatural beings.  
"You cannot be here…you should be dead. Castiel killed you!" Mumbled the angel using a farmer as his vessel, the first time he spoke since he arrived. The new arrival seemed to be surprised, and after a couple of blinks took a slow huff from his cigarette.  
"Castiel? Well ain't that a surprise. What kind of mess did he got himself into now?"  
"He is the one responsible for the fall! Help us brother, Dean Winchester knows where he is, with your help we will surely get this out of him!" Proclaimed the angel inhibiting the counsellor's body, her face was still full of fear, but there was some kind of hope in it too. Dean tried to push himself up, but a sudden sharp stab from his ribs made it clear that doing such exercise would not be the healthiest thing for him to do right now. The newcomer snapped his gaze towards him.  
"Dean Winchester" He repeated the words slowly as if he was thinking about the upcoming events very carefully. He suddenly shook himself and gave a stern look to the two angels, almost radiating authority. "Get lost you two. I will deal with this personally."  
"Bu…" Tried the angel inhabiting the counsellors' body but the newcomers eyebrow just raised itself a couple of millimetres and the words choked in her mouth. "Yes."  
"Help the others, there must be many injured in the fall. They need you more than me right now." This seemed to confuse the two angels for a second before the one-eyed man added "That is an order." And with that, the time for doubt was over, and the two figures hurried away as fast as they could down a corridor. Dean gave a forced smile to the new guy.  
"Hate to tell you, you Nick Fury looking motherfucker, but I don’t know where Castiel is and no amount of beating will get me to spill the beans, because, and I repeat this again, I DON’T KNOW!"  
"I figured that much. " Said the man and took a huff smoke from his cigarette. As he breathed it out, it began swirling around him. " I became very adept at judging when someone is lying. And you, Dean Winchester, are not." He slowly walked closer to Dean, who started to edge towards the receptionist table, or to be more precise, towards the angel blade that fallen right beside it when the counsellor decided to act as a bit more hands on version of Darth Vader and started to choke him.  
"That wont be much use to you. Not that you need it, I am not here to harm you." Dean made a painful sound that was equally a small laugh and a strained cough.  
"Excuse me, but after the things I been through, I am not really inclined to trust angels just because they say I should." The man suddenly sped up, and although Dean lunged towards the knife, he was far too slow. The unknown man grabbed him by the wrist, and simply, but do to his injuries painfully, rolled him against the receptionist desk.  
"Damn." Coughed the hunter as the other guy stepped closer and shook his head, cigar smoke swirling around his head.  
"I wouldn’t jump around with those broken ribs of yours. If I would have let you slam against the floor as you wanted, you would be drowning in your own blood right now. " Dean lounged again before he could finish but got grabbed by the back of his neck and pulled ontu the desk. The man was an excellent hand to hand fighter, at least much better than he was right now, bruised, tired, and aching all over.  
"Dammit human, do you WANT to pierce your lungs with bone fragments? Stay put for fuck sake." The man placed his hand on his chest and kept it there, letting the pain stop Dean from struggling. "Right, now I have a couple of questions from you, and I believe you have much clearer answers than those two I just chased away. Don’t worry they are not about your Castiel friend. Frankly that poor sod is such a punchbag, I have to assume even if he caused the fall, somebody must have tricked him into it."  
"I…" Dean Wheezed as he felt something starting to poke his lungs from inside his own body. The guy wasn’t joking about the ribs. "I…tell you…when my…brother is safe." The other man nodded slowly and took his hand off Deans chest.  
"Fair trade, hop off then and show me where he is. I assume you warded it." The hunter blinked a couple of times.  
"What? And what's with my lungs a…" Dean trailed of as he realised the pain was gone, as if it was never there. The aching in his jaw was nowhere to be found, and as he run his tongue along his teeth, those that were knocked loose by the hit from the angel guy earlier were soundly in their place.  
"You healed me. Who the hell are you?" The man turned back and blew out another breath of swirling grey smoke.

"Raphael." After he saw the blood draining from the hunters face the archangel added. "Not yours mind you." This apparently wasn’t much of a help since dean quickly snatched up the angel blade from the ground and held it defensively in front of himself. Raphael smiled slowly and put out the cigarette on the wall beside him. "Great enthusiasm, but that thing is about as useful against me as foam sword."  
"Why aren’t you dead?" Asked Dean still holding the blade in front of him, hand slightly trembling. Raphael sighed.  
"I already told you I am not your Raphael. I will gladly elaborate and trade story for story, but we are in a hurry, your brother is dying is he not?" Dean slowly swallowed and the tremble in his hand grew a little bit.  
"And how do I know you don’t want to hurt him? That you are not just some kind of boss angel who uses this tactic to get to us? " The archangel slowly rubbed his temple, and his sigh this time was considerably deeper.  
"Look, I know you are in a stressful situation and thus not on the top of your game, but let's review the facts here: 1. I helped you, 2. If I am an angel who is deceiving you, you can still stab me with that poker of yours. 3. If I tell the truth, I could just nuke this whole state without breaking a sweat, much less vaporise this hospital complex, along with you, your wards, and your brother. Want him saved instead? Then get your act together and show me where he is."

\---

The door slowly opened, and from the chair beside the bed a tired looking sweating angel rose to stand.  
"Dean I tried to save him but no matter what I do he is deterioraaa….." The angel trailed of as instead of Dean a short haired man of an African descent stepped in, and inside the form, the image of one of his brothers. Towering pillar of white crystalline light, brighter and stronger he ever seen, and inside the brilliance an incomprehensible existence, moulded into a vaguely humanoid form. An archangel. He opened his mouth to scream in terror, but the man moved forward and grabbed his mouth. Dean, stepped beside the man and placed the angel blade against his back with a swift motion, although he wasn’t sure if it would do anything at all.  
"LET HIM GO, RIGHT NOW!" The archangel slowly let his captive drop to the ground, and the other angel started to go into a full-on panic attack, crying and shaking. "What did you do to him?!"  
"I didn’t do anything I just tried to stop him from shrieking in surprise, we don’t need an angelic burst of energy right beside your ailing brother." The archangel knelt down beside his brother and without saying a word embraced him, which turned the shaking and weeping into an almost catatonic rocking.  
"Then what's wrong with him? The others were shaken but not this much. Why did it affect Ezekiel this much?"  
"Probably because he isn't Ezekiel. This is Gadreel. And I think he is going to a PTSD induced panic attack. Shh…brother…shhh." Gadreel didn’t answer just became still and silent like a frightened animal. " And I am probably not helping, me, or as to say the other me, might have been one of his tormentors. Would you mind swapping with me while I heal your brother?" Dean blinked a couple of times.  
"Like, with the cuddling?" Raphael made a groaning noise which started another weeping fit in Gadreel.  
"No with making an omelette. Get here and hug my emotional wreck of a brother while I do my job." The hunter looked around, carefully placed the angel blade into the nightstand beside Sams bed and knelt beside Gadreel. As soon as Raphael moved away from him, Dean, with great care hugged the angel, earning some soft noises of distress from him.  
"Good, at least much better than my attempt." Nodded Raphael slowly and shook his head, while placing his hand on Sams."Damn, your brothers body, and his soul too, now that I mention it, is a total wreck."  
"Tell me about the latter…" Mumbled Dean with a bit of awkward sarcasm as Gadreel cling to him like a pursued child. "What happened to him? Ez…Gadreel I mean. " Raphael at first didn’t answer, but when he did the words came in a rough dark voice. It was deep and somehow heavy with age and memories, as if it was coming from a spacious cave in the ground.  
"Ultimately? My father. Directly? If I have to guess torture. A lot of torture probably."  
"Why?"  
"Because it was dramatic. That is the real reason anyway. As for the one you would understand, is because he was the angel standing guard at the gate of paradise. One of father favourite puppets at least that what he was told." He stopped and glanced towards the slowly calming angel. "And then what happened Gadreel? Where you betrayed? Dozed off? Got told to leave your post by some higher up? Distracted by a wounded friend falling in front of you? What was it this time?" Gadreel slowly swallowed and mumbled.  
"Tricked, by Lucifer. And then came, the torture. " He started to shake again but forced himself the continue. "And, and you, but it wasn’t you, was it?" Raphaels mouth curled up into a sad solemn smile and shook his head.  
"No, what gave it away?"  
"He never had such a strong and flowing grace. Every time I seen him, he was powerful, and cold, and…" His shaking worsened and Raphael raised his unoccupied hand.  
"Don’t. I get it. He was the pale shadow of what I was. It was the same everywhere, one thing he made sure to never change. He never made archangels so complex, as my brothers and I, otherwise, the puppets one day might have noticed the strings. World after world of emotionally deprived psychotic automatons wearing my face. " Raphael scoffed a little shaking his head.  
"What…what are you?" Asked Gadreel his shaking almost subsided once again.  
"I am Raphael. The archangel of healing." 

The angel raised his hand and Sam suddenly jerked awake, sitting upright with a slightly dazed, but entirely frightened expression.  
"The original. The rough draft. The last surviving archangel from the very first world my father created." As Dean immediately jumped up to inspect his brother, who was shaking his head in confusion, Raphael once again knelt beside his brother and placed his hand on his shoulder. Gadreel felt grace flowing into him. The healing was different from the way his Raphael did it, mainly to prolong his pain. That feeling was sterile, impersonal, while this was pulsating and so full of energy, he had to steady himself not to be blown backwards. It was the difference between a glass of tap water, and a hundred-meter-tall waterfall roaring down on the mountainside. Questions swirled inside Gadreels head, as he felt his wings, wings he thought to be burned, tortured, and maimed beyond the point of healing slowly filling with energy.  
"Why…Why are you here?"


	2. Sibling rivalry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raphael seeks out his distant brothers, to offer aid, and freedom from the prison they were cast into.

"Why are you here?"  
Raphael slowly mulled over the question in his head as he walked down the abandoned road towards the crater that was once St. Mary's Convent. There was once a forest around the old building, but an explosion of supernatural force completely decimated it and everything else in at least a mile radius. Now the area was a wasteland, completely empty, haunted by the memories of what happened here. Monsters were drawn to this place, and the disturbed spirit of the place haunted every visitor with a chilling, malignant feeling. Now, the beast and spirits scattered like rats in the presence of a predator.  
"To help everyone I can."  
The answer he gave was truthful in every way that mattered, expect the direct one. He healed the tortured angel- As far as he was able to at least, the form was healthy, but the mind inside was still wounded. - and left him with the two brothers, asking them to protect each other. He managed to swap life stories with the two brothers, but he forbid them from telling much of it to Gadreel. He had enough on his shoulders without a new source of existential dread, and the brothers seemed to be veterans at these kinds of things. Something fluttered inside the crater as the lone figure slowly approached the epicentre of the destruction. The faint sound of wings, only apparent to those who had keen supernatural senses. He wasn’t alone.

The vessel, wearing jeans, and a deep red button up shirt slowly cocked his head to one side. In his eyes, Raphael saw the visage of a long-lost brother.  
"Well I be damned…" Murmured slowly the new arrival. " You know I watched this place in case anyone tries something funny with Lucifers cage again, but damn Raphi boy, how do hell do YOU faked your death? And you got some shiny new powerup as I see…" Raphaels mouth contorted into a slightly bitter smile, which somehow seemed to disturb his talking partner.  
"It is always a pleasure to meet a Gabriel." Gabriel raised his eyebrows, and an angel blade materialised in his hand as if from nowhere. It gleamed even in the dark, starless night.   
" A Gabriel? Who the hell are you?" Raphael glanced towards the archangel blade and slowly cracked his shoulders, as if he was readying himself for the possibility of a fight. This obviously made Gabriel even more uneasy.  
"Let me answer a question with a question, long lost sibling of mine. What do you know about the other works of our father? Other worlds?" Gabriels eye narrowed and he started to slowly spin the angel blade in his hand, apparently in deep thought.  
"We were repeatedly told that we are the one and only. The perfect creation." Raphaels smile grew a little bit wider and becoming more sincere.  
"I cannot help noticing that you might not have believed this. " Gabriel scoffed and shook his head.   
"Anyone who knows my family knows that we are so fuckin far from perfect that it isn't even funny anymore. I had some suspicion. Are you telling me that you are from another world?"  
"The first one." Nodded slowly Raphael as Gabriel started to walk around him in a wide circle, keeping his eyes on him.  
"How many did he created?" Raphaels smile broke apart and slowly disappeared like water on hot asphalt. He took a big breath, as if he was counting and then said:  
"Seven hundred and twenty-six." This forced the other archangel to stop, and shook his head in apparent disbelief.  
"You are telling me that there are seven hundred and twenty five other worlds out there?!"  
"No." Came the answer, now empty and cold. "I said he created that many, there is only about three hundred fifty-five out there." Gabriels hand trembled for a second.  
"What happened with the others?" Raphael looked into the archangel, his soul a shadow of his own long-lost siblings, yet it was still closer to the original Gabriels than his own copies were. This one still had the flame of doubt in him, not like the Raphaels. They had hope, they had beliefs, they still had enough control over themselves to start suspecting the truth, but not enough to figure it out. Not machines formed from angelic energy, like his counterparts, but shackled minds instead.   
"You know." He said finally after a couple of seconds of silence. Gabriels mouth trembled.  
"No, my father can be an absolute jerk, but he would never…" Raphaels smile once again returned, but now it was made from frozen acid.   
"Father? Yes, we think of him and such, but to him were just puppets to play with. Paper Mache story telling aids. Toy soldiers. " Gabriel swallowed back something that wanted to surface, and answered with a:  
"No, you are mistaken." Raphael growled, stepping closer to his brother. Gabriels grip tightened on his archangel blade and his brother stopped, but his hands tightened into fists.  
"Wake up Gabriel. He never loved me. He never loved this world, and he certainly never loved you either!" 

Gabriel lounged forward, his expression a mix of sorrow and fury. Raphael whirled left, showing his right side to the attacker and struck out towards the empty air. Then he grabbed it and pulled it towards himself. The image of the attacking Gabriel shattered, and the real archangel was slammed into the ground, Raphael still holding his wrist. He didn’t even had time to realise what happened, before the archangel blade was wrested from his hand. Then, Raphael jumped backwards, sword in his hand and folded his arms. Gabriel remained where he was, lying on the ground, facing the sky. The silence was broken by his brother after a couple of minutes.  
"It was a good attempt, but while you might be a talented trickster, I am hunting the ultimate one. I have seen far too much deception for that." Gabriel took a slow deliberate breath and didn’t answer for another couple of seconds.   
"You know, I always suspected. In some way. I always felt that he was somehow off, you know. Even when he seemed genuinely happy, when we were young." Raphael didn’t answer, after another second or so, his brother continued in a sombre contemplative tone. "Is it normal that I still love him as my father? And wish no harm to him?"   
"You are programmed to do so, but I suspect even if you didn’t, you would still love him. He created, and raised you, the only parent you ever knew. It’s not a surprise." Gabriel considered this, and then slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position and looked up to his brother from another reality.   
"Do you want to kill him?" Now it was Raphael's grip that tightened on the angel blade, and slowly relaxed. "Don’t answer, I can see it. Can I persuade you not to? I think, I would still fight to save him even after knowing all that." Raphaels expression mellowed a little.  
"Wanting to do it, and doing it, is a very different matter brother. I can promise you I won't kill father, but only if you agree to help me." Gabriel stood up and took a breath and dusted himself off.  
"Is that an ultimatum? A threat?"  
"A deal." Said slowly Raphael. "I can do what I came to do without killing him, but I will need help to pull it off. And not only yours, but your brothers too." Indicated the older archangel towards the ground. His talking partner had to do a double take.  
"You must be joking. Michael would never side with you. And Lucifer is evil."  
"Lucifer is in idiot." Countered Raphael, much to the annoyance of Gabriel, who was prepared to protest his brothers honour before Raphael continued. " But its not his fault, he was created that way, to be a more entertaining puppet for our father. He was the only one who could always the strings, but he was unable to do anything but put up a futile struggle against them. " Raphael shook his head and searched for two small vials in his pocket. They were made from some kind of crystal, and contained a dark red, almost black liquid. " He thought that the shackle on your minds was the fault of fathers latter creations, that if he could somehow regain his attention, he could feel happy and content again. He could never get that back. Not from him at least." Gabriel scowled and glanced towards the two vials.  
"What in those?"  
"Liliths blood. From another world. The connection to the cage should be enough for me to slip inside. It won't stand up to all three of us pushing from the inside, but if it is somehow sturdier than I expect, then the second bottle is enough to get me slip out again." Gabriel rubbed his temple still looking at the vials.  
"And what if they just jump you and take it from you? Its obvious that if Michael helps you, he will only do it until he is out. Then he will try to run for father to tell on you. He was always like that. But regardless of that, I don’t think Lucifer will join you either. What you said about him may be true, but he doesn’t have my gentle and cuddly nature, if you insult father in front of him, he wont calm down until you are dead. " His talking partner shook the two vials up and nodded slowly.  
"You are completely right; I want to offer a deal to him. I will offer him the one thing he never had, and always craved for. A matter of fact, the offer is open to you too. I think you want it just as much." Gabriel looked at him quizzically and he continued." True freedom. Freedom to do what you want, but above that, freedom to be who you want. " Gabriels eyes widened, then narrowed, just to widen again.  
"Can you do that?" Raphael slowly ran his finger around his eyepatch and nodded, vials clinking in his hand.   
"Yes." He turned Gabriels archangel blade in his hand, and extended it back towards his owner, handle first. "Its better if they don’t have a shiv in there. I heard prisons are rough places." Gabriel couldn’t help but smile and took the weapon.  
"I will have to get used to a Raphael with a sense of humour."  
"Life is full of little surprises." Smiled Raphael a little bit slowly, and bit the cork out from the first bottle, and let the liquid pour into the ground. It clumped up with the dirt, and then started to glow, as if it was creating a borehole into the heart of a star. Raphael took a deep breath and touched it with the end of his booth. The world was instantly swallowed up by darkness.

It was a vast, empty, and black void. There were not even any visible walls around him. Nothing to give any kind of sensation, or any point of reference. The only thing beside him, was two pillars of light made from swirling energies, and unknowable brilliance. One radiated bright gold coloured light with a slight red tint to it, while the other one had wore a bluish one. There was darkness coiling around them, smoky tentacles of void, binding them. The two light tried to reach towards each other, straining themselves to somehow, anyhow reach the other…and destroy it. Raphael glanced down as the darkness started to slowly snake itself around his ankle too, at the same time, it weakened around the two lights, as if it was stretching itself thin in its greed to capture everyone. The new arrival took a cigarette out of his pocket and placed inside his mouth. The two lights strained against their shackles, and they stretched so long that they were almost, but not quite touching each other. Raphael murmured and took out a match too, and lit it against the side of the box, lighting the cigarette in his mouth. When he finished, he flicked the match in between the two light. They both froze, and Raphael had the feeling that it was just now that they noticed him.   
"Hello brothers." The bluish gold flame reverberated in the darkness.  
"Raphael! I knew you would help me. Quickly, help me destroy Lucifer so we could get out from here!" The reddish flame of Lucifer seemed to growl as an answer.  
"I won't let you kill me so easily Raphael, if you want to kill me I will sell my life as dearly as possible." Raphael breathed in the smoke and slowly exhaled it with a sigh.   
"I don’t think I will do that Michael." Answered Raphael and taking the cigarette out from his mouth, shook a little ash into the void below. Both of the lights seemed to be shocked equally by his answer and demeanour. "So, this is what you two have been reduced to. Two chained dog snarling at each other. Frankly I am disappointed in the both of you." Both flames flared and they started to reach towards him in rage. The tendrils of void began to snap around their brilliance, and Raphael smiled a little. "So you are still capable of working together. Good. Now listen carefully, I am not your Raphael." He got no answer, just another straining against the tendrils, and another couple of snaps. "Listen to me, I am Raphael from another world, the first one our father ma…" Some other shackles broke, and the flames waved ever closer. Raphael growled, and scrunched the cigarette in his hand. He dropped it into the void and took a deep breath. 

The figure of a human, disintegrating around him. Unlike his younger brothers, the first angels needed no vessel. They could make one for themselves from the dust of the earth, from the molecules in the air, from their own energy. Another aspect of freedom the latter generations were robbed of. The man with the eyepatch was now nowhere to be seen, in his place a growing plume of flame. It wasn’t the raging golden fire of the archangels in front of him, it was pure white, spreading in jets of energy which constricted around each other, moving in an almost crystalline pattern, creating an every shifting lattice of energy which bent the laws of the universe around its edges, even in the cage. It had a vaguely humanoid figure in the middle of it, featureless, pure white, one of his eyes pulsating with energy, the other one, a cut on the universe, so black it threatened to consume even the darkness of the cage. The void tendrils clinging to the figure withered, like vines after drought. It was massive too, easily four times the size of the fires in front of him. The two flames hardly noticed what was happening before the voice reached them. "ENOUGH OF THE TEMPER TANTRUM YOU BRATTY CHILDREN" Their fires buffeted, like a bonfire in the forewarning winds of a hurricane. Lucifer and Gabriel froze in flame, even their flickering stopped.   
"Who…What are you?!" Asked Michael incredously.  
"I have already told you; you just haven’t bothered to listen to me." Growled Raphael but the figure inside the lattice of light shook his head. "I am Raphael, the first one ever made. "  
"Lies, I was the first Archangel!" Cried out Michael in utter devotion.   
"Will you shut up for once and use your head once?" Snorted Lucifer in anger and contempt. "He didn’t say he was the first archangel. He said he was the firs Raphael ever made."  
"Correct, I am from another world. The one father started his carrier as a Creator." Michael once again cried out the wave of fire returning again from the anger born from this declaration.  
"More lies! This is the one and only world. " His word were passionate but somehow rang much less certain than before. Lucifer's flame started to flow again too as he measured the newcomer.  
"You are so different."  
"I am what was. I am who Raphael supposed to be." Murmured solemnly the lattice of light. "Before father made him into a bland tasteless caricature of a thinking being."  
"HOW DARE YOU!" Growled Michael "Father has done nothing but tried to make us happy and he made us to be perfect!" Michael tried to move towards Raphael but the motion was interrupted by Lucifers words.  
"LOOK at him Michael!" It was his time to growl now. "It's obvious he is stronger than us! It's obvious that we are…lesser than him " The archangels fire quieted down, then raged up again. "WHY?! Why would father do this to us? He loved us! He cared for us, he made mistakes, like creating those scum sucking humans, but he would have realised that we were the ones he should spend his time with, once I destroyed them!"  
"We were given orders, and you didn’t followed them. That’s why he left us; everyone knew." Said Michael matter of factly, Lucifers fire bloomed once again, ready to fight, and Michael answered in kind with his own raging inferno.  
"ENOUGH." The voice once again buffeted them, and the flames quieted down, but still seething. " Are you two blind? You two are warring with each other for the love of a father whose love you will never earn."  
"Why? Because you haven’t managed to? " Answered Michael over his proverbial shoulder, but immediately regretted it. 

Now Raphael was the one who flared, not in a tantrum like they, but his eyes widened, and the jets of fire hardened into pure crystal, radiating such cold that the void tentacles on them started to run with a thin sheet of ice. His rage was so cold that metaphorical concepts began to freeze over.   
"Father won't give you love because you did or did not do something. Father will not give you love because he is incapable of the emotion. Father will not give you love because the only thing he truly enjoys is playing with the puppets he carved from nothingness. I am a very reasonable entity, but if you try to tell me again, that the death of my world, and my brothers were somehow my, or their fault, I will erase you. " There were a couple of second of complete silence, and stillness in the void. Not even the flames flickered.  
"The death of your world, and brothers?" Asked Lucifer slowly after the shock of the moment had stopped. The answer came almost as cold as Raphaels fury.  
"Yes. We were the first to be ever created. The first archangels, first humans, very different but similar the ones that are here. We were, more powerful than you. The four of us were given almost a fourth of our fathers power individually. When the humans came, we walked amongst them, tended to them like teachers in a classroom, we delighted in their progress. Then father decided, that it was 'boring'. He later confessed that he decided to 'spice things up' a little. He isolated himself in his throne room. Disease, death, catastrophes started to appear on out Earth, but with our combined power we made sure these were relative minor events. Then our Lucifer started acting weird, he grew cold to the humans, and to other angels too. We confronted him about the problem before it became serious. He confessed that he started to feel like he was losing himself. As if somebody was slowly changing his personality from the inside, and that he was unable to fight against it much longer. He was so scared…" 

Raphael trailed of, the being of light inside the crystalline lattice looked at Lucifer and shook his head sadly. "Father refused to answer our questions so we barged into his inner sanctum. He was working on creating an all-encompassing war between the angels and humans, slowly sowing resentment amongst our lesser brethren. Millions would die on both sides. It would have broken the peace and prosperity we cultivated with thousands of year of hard work. He told is it would make a better story. " Raphael chuckled coldly and the other archangels listened in complete silence. " We told him he was insane. That he must stop. He told us to obey or be amongst the casualties of the upcoming war." Raphael sighed and smiled, coldness not disappearing." That’s when we realised, he never seen us as his sons, just his toys. We refused to do his bidding, refused to kill each other. He tried to manipulate our personalities, but we were too strong, and felt the change coming, anyone who had the feeling, locked himself up as to not to be used against his brothers and friend. And to our surprise, he relented. He agreed to leave just like that, he said he already had another plan in mind, and that we ruined the story anyway. He created a portal to the void between worlds, and was prepared to leave. We were all there, we even got Lucifer out from his self-imposed prison to see him off. He was still our father, we owed him as much. He made a heartfelt speech about free will, and that despite first thinking we were just mindless puppets, he really was proud of us for standing up to him, smiling all the way…And then he unleashed all the energy he was gathering behind his back on us without stopping to smile even for a second. Two of my brothers were dead in an instant, our Michael, mortally wounded. I stood at the back, by chance, so I was shielded from the blast by the body of our brothers. We could have deflected it by working together, we could have saved ourselves. But despite knowing the truth of how he felt, we never expected this from him. He had another world ready to build, we never attacked him, we never raised our hands against him. There was no reason we could imagine why would somebody do such a horrible thing. As Michael died in my hands, and the world I hope to protect burned around me, he finally gave an answer, still smiling. "  
"What was that?" Asked Lucifer, slowly hesitantly. His light was shaking now, he felt cold to his very core. He feared the coming answer.  
"He said: 'That’s for ruining my fun.' And then le left, to do the same to countless worlds and lives. " Another long silence descended on them. Michaels light slowly crackled.  
"I don’t believe you. But even if I would why do you come here then? To kill him?" Raphael-s light shook his head inside the crystalline lattice.   
"That is not my reason. I simply came to stop him from doing this anymore. Finally, I have the power to confront him. But I will need help. Your help" The beings normal eye slowly scanned them.  
"No." Answered almost immediately Michael but his voice was conflicted.  
"What's your offer?" Came from Lucifer at the same time. Michaels flame bloomed once again, erupting and raging harder than before.   
"WHAT? Brother you cannot be serious?! He is our father!" For once Lucifer didn’t rise to the anger. Instead just coolly answered.  
"And? Frankly, what I heard, and what I seen seems damned convincing to me. Maybe not to you, who weren’t discarded and shut into a prison for thousands of years. I think I want to hear him out." Raphaels visage inside the crystalline light nodded slowly.  
"I offer freedom from him. I think you both know that in a way incomprehensible to you, both of you are linked to him, dependent. I can set you free. You can be yourself, find your own way. The only thing I ask is to help me. You don’t have to fight against him, I just need you to help me with something in the Purgatory."  
"What are the drawbacks?" Asked Lucifer after a couple of seconds of deliberation.   
"You will be given your own life, so you will be responsible for your own actions. And if I lose and die..." Raphael let the sentence hang in the air. Michael scoffed shaking his head.  
"We will be obliterated along with you and this world. Its madness."   
"We might be, but then again, its better to die fighting for freedom than to die as a slave. Isn't that what those annoying humans always say? You were up there; you must have heard it a thousand times. It is certainly better than being stuck in here. I am in." Said Lucifer, seriousness radiating from his flame.   
"If it helps, Gabriel is with us." Said slowly Raphael, his senses scanning the flame of Michael. Michael showed no emotion, just made a metaphorical shrug.  
"Whatever. We first have to get out of here." 

 

Gabriel slowly circled around the spot where Raphael disappeared. It was insane, all that thing. Freeing his two brothers were insane in on itself, and even that was just the smaller aspect of the thing. He was in the process of convincing himself to just leave and forget about all that, when the ground began to shake under him. First, a pillar of light erupted, reaching towards the sky, a globule of immense brilliance shot out from it, then a second one. The first one, bearing a slightly bluish tint, streaked towards the heavens, while the second one, in a reddish tone, left to scour the world for a potential vessel. The pillar of light shut off, as if somebody have cut it, and its place, stood Raphael, slightly dishevelled, and lighting a cigarette. Gabriel glanced up after the lights, and then back towards Raphael.   
"I am pretty sure that Michael is headed towards heaven to try to warn father."  
"He will have a rude awakening when he slams against its closed door then. " Raphael slowly breathed out a puff of smoke and looked around.  
"And Lucifer?" Gabriel was unsure how to answer to that. He shrugged noncommittally.  
"I have no idea. He might be searching for a vessel, he might be planning to lay waste to the world because you left him out." Raphael snorted a little as an answer.  
"We give him a couple of hours then."  
"And what of Michael?" Gabriel pointed upwards where the first speck of light streaked off. "What if he manages to contact father and he comes down raining wrath on us?!"  
"I don’t think he can. And I don’t think he would even if Michael manages to reach him." Rapahel caught Gabriels incredulous look and sighed. "The reason why is because I am still playing his game. Causing chaos, stirring the pot, and all that. He enjoys the 'fun' of it. He won't come until I show him that its not a game. But then, then he won't stop for nothing until he reaches me…"


	3. Father of lights and lies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raphael and his brothers confront their creator on the grounds of Purgatory.

It took almost three hours for Lucifer to arrive. The vessel he was using was a thirty something man in an orange prison jumpsuit, and short brownish hair. He had a scar running across his left cheek and the clothes he was wearing seemed a little bit singed. He walked up slowly from the trailer and stopped a couple of meters away. He looked around as if he was searching for something and then folded his arms.   
"Greetings."   
"Hello brother. " Nodded Gabriel curtly with visible annoyance about the fact that his brother hasn’t bothered to ask how he was alive. "Michael won't be coming with us tonight. He decided to spend the time by bashing his head against the closed door to heaven. And by the way, aren’t you surprised that I am alive? You could give me an apology you know, it won't burn your tongue off. ". Lucifer shrugged a little bit and sighed.  
"Do we have to go trough all the pleasantries? But if you really want to know, I hoped that you managed to get away. I couldn’t be sure of it, but when I was imprisoned, I fought with Michael before dad separated us. Both of us really meant to kill each other then…Our little scuffle was far too short and tame. I hoped that was because you had something in your sleeve, and you are just putting up an act to try to chase me away. And what do you know, I was right?" Lucifer gave his brother a half smile, as a result Michaels frown just deepened.  
"But you still would have killed me if it was the real me, don’t you?" Lucifer didn’t answer, just stared at his brother for a second, before he turned towards Raphael who just dropped his tenth cigarette into the ground. 

The older angel placed his foot on it, then rubbed it out in the dirt.  
"So, what's next, big bro?" Asked the fallen archangel and the last two words came out full of bitterness, as if only saying them was enough to fill his mouth with a sour taste.   
"We are going to Purgatory. I have a jar filled with magic juice and a modified spelt that should be enough to let us open a way, and step into it." Mumbled Raphael and began to rummage around in his pocket for something. Both of his brothers just blinked in surprise waiting for more information. When it wasn’t forthcoming, the first one to speak was Lucifer.  
"Purgatory? Why the hell would we go there?" Raphael managed to grab something and pulled out a jar from his deepest pocket. Despite its faded label which proclaimed that it was "Pickled Onion"-s, it actually contained some kind of deep red sludge.   
"Because last time our dear father has unleashed a serious attack, it decimated an entire world. Purgatory is not only relatively worthless, but it also perpetual plane. Its creator proclaimed that there should be no changes there, so the monsters could only roam the same landscape for the end of time. " Raphael put a bit of mocking theatrical tone into his voice when he said that.  
"So, even if he decides to drop a sun on us, the whole plane just reforms after it was destroyed." Murmured Gabriel rubbing his chin in deep thought. " Huh. Neat, I never knew. "   
"We were never meant to know. I wonder how many things he never told us." Mused Lucifer with an even sourer face. He tried to act 'cool' about it, but it was obvious for everyone that despite their differences the fact that Michael once again choose to side with god instead of him was hurting him in some level.   
"A lot, unfortunately. But don’t worry, I will make sure he can't use any of that against you." Raphael nodded in acknowledgement and stepped closer to Lucifer. He almost stepped back, but the other archangel just lightly tapped him in the shoulder. The gesture was an encouraging one, one would give to a little brother before a hard exam, or difficult race. Lucifer just stared at him, and slowly touched the same place on his shoulder, then nodded.  
"Right. Right, of course, open that door, lets get trough it."   
"All right." Raphael gave him a smile, one mixed with a grain of sadness, then gave an encouraging look to Gabriel who also nodded.  
"Lets get going." The oldest archangel stepped away his brothers, and cracking his shoulders raised one of his hands. A force slammed against the ground, compacting the loose dirt into hardened rock. When it was finished, he popped open the can, stopped himself from gagging, and began to draw the appropriate magical symbols.  
"Where did you learned this stuff?" Asked Gabriel as he stepped closer and crouched at the edge of the slab of rock.  
"Here and there, our father made a lot of worlds. They had minor or major differences, when he swapped out certain elements that he found boring or to easy. Fortunately, since all of them are his works, they are internally consistent. Which means that this potion…" He shook the jar a little as he was painting with its content. "Works here because its coded into it to 'open purgatory' even though its content are different."   
"Uhum. I understand. " Said Gabriel with absolutely no conviction. Raphael stopped for a second to grab for a couple of examples in his memory.  
"Don’t worry, its pretty hard to understand. Imagine that in the world every created thing is tagged with a couple of descriptions. Everything. Now imagine that in one world there is a red door, and it has a blue key. In another world there are the same red door, but in this world the key for it is green. Despite this, I can use the blue key from another world because it Is fundamentally coded into reality as the 'red door opener', and it can still fulfil this function if the red door itself wasn’t significantly changed. " When all he got from his two brothers were another set of blank faces, he just shook his head and ended with. " Lets just settle it with that our 'father' can be lazy, and he constantly re-uses concepts." He finished the symbol, and the stood up. "Prepare to jump when I finish the incantation." Raphael raised his hand and began to mumble as Lucifer and Gabriel stood closer to him. The oldest archangels voice rose into a crescendo and suddenly the symbols gave out a noise very similar to cracking ice, and the boundary between planes of existence fell away like broken wood. The window was small, and wind was howling into the endless forest of purgatory, Raphael immediately jumped trough, Lucifer and Gabriel following him closely. 

As always, purgatory was perpetually stuck in a time between the end of summer and the beginning of fall. The air was stuffy, and somehow always filled with the scent of blood. Raphael looked around in a murmur and found that the two younger archangels was fidgeting nervously.   
"This place makes the skin on my vessel itch. " Said Gabriel looking around, searching for anything dangerous.  
"Must be some kind of primitive animal danger sense. " Grumbled Lucifer and scratched his arm. "Dumb beasts." Raphael just shook his head in response to that and turned back towards them. He studied their faces for a second then asked.  
"Now, I will set you free. This will not be a pleasant sensation. I cannot give you that. The comforting lies are 'father'-s style, I won't be doing that. But when I finished you have to be ready, because he will be barrelling towards us, I am sure of it. He will realise that its not a game anymore, and he will probably drag Michael here too. So, it's better if we talk about things now, before all…" He looked around. "Purgatory breaks loose." Lucifer groaned as an answer, Gabriel gave out a small smile before he returned to a more solemn face.  
"And what will we do when the old man is here?" Asked the youngest Archangel kicking a small piece of bone sticking out from the ground. "We jump him together, and se how it goes?" Raphael seemed surprised and shook his head.  
"By the worlds, not a chance."  
"Goo…" Started Gabriel but Raphael continued.  
" I won't force you to go toe to toe against him. Your job will be to distract him while I fight and deal with Michael so he can't do the same to me. You don’t have to kill him, just keep him away from the fight. " The two younger archangels seemed uncertain. Lucifer looked at Raphael measuringly.  
"I don’t want to pry, but even though you are impressive, he is, well, god. Are you sure you can handle him?"   
"I have a few tricks in my sleeves. If it goes well it will be enough, if not, I think we are more or less prepared for that. " Gabriel's left eye twitched a little as if he had something to ad, but he kept it to yourself. "Basically, that is the plan. Anything more complicated and he will probably turn it against us. He is good at that. " Raphael reached up and grabbed the edge of his eyepatch. "I will free you now. You have to be on your toes the second it happens, are you ready?" He asked one last time. Lucifer clenched his fists.  
"Ready as can be."   
"Hit me with that sweet-sweet freedom." Gabriel theatrically rolled up his sleeves, but his smile was a nervous one. Raphael tore of his patch without hesitation.

The second the piece of cloth came off the two archangels felt as if something had tore into them. There was nothing inside Raphael's eye socket. The deep endless void between universes. It was not the simple absence of light or even space. It was the concept of nothing formed into something entirely new. Lucifer and Gabriel wanted to scream but the icy cold fear grabbed their throat and strangled the voice before it had a chance to even born. When the terror dissipated like rime under a warm breeze there was something different in its wake. It was as if a weight, one that they never even realised was there, has been lifted from their mind. It was the equivalent of having ones hazy, feverish mind suddenly changed back into a normal cool and logical state.   
"What…" Started Gabriel with surprised eyes when a gigantic explosion tore away the forest to the left of them. The fire burned away thousand's year old trees in a scant second, as if they were nothing but matchsticks against a bonfire. Raphael swept his hand against the raging tide of flames, and they billowed upwards, towards the firmament. When they died down, inside the smouldering ring of flames stood two all too familiar figure. One of them was, their father, or Chuck as he liked to call himself nowadays, and their ever-loyal brother, Michael. The latter one seemed to be a little bit out of breath, and probably confused, while the former seemed entirely calm, but Raphael was sure that he was absolutely livid. Chuck smiled in a warm, but sad way and folded his arms behind his back leaning a bit forward as if he was prepared to speak to a little child.   
"You shouldn’t have gone that far just to see me. I am always happy to see the prodigal son return to his father. I am just saddened that you managed to lead my other two sons astray too." His smile faltered, and he put on a sad expression. "Was this really necessary?" He aimed the question towards Gabriel and Lucifer in a sad fatherly voice. As he spoke, the forest around them began to knit itself back together. Burned trees started to grow with visible speed, sprouting in mere second. The earth that got crystallized by the blazing inferno cracked and softened back into forest soil. Purgatory repaired itself in breakneck speed. "I could have easily forgiven you two for what you did, even though you broke my heart. There is still a…" Chuck and Raphael moved like a lighting, almost as the same time, but the archangel was a hairbreadth faster. He swept his hand to the left. From the right side of their 'father' a spear of elemental force struck out from nothing, and as Chuck was prepared to fire something he was apparently gathered in his hand behind his back, it impacted into that. The ball of incandescent light burst sideways instead of forward. A supernova blossomed obliterating everything to Chucks left side to the molecular level. The diffuse light knit itself back together and a half a second later bedrock formed back to gave form to that side of Purgatory again. 

"A sneak attack, father?" Asked Raphael, his voice was filled to the brim with disgust and contempt. "You should have realised that I am the one person you could never pull that trick off. Not again you piece of shit. " The fatherly façade on Chucks face broke like brittle glass and he snarled.   
"HOW DARE YOU?" The three younger archangel, including Michael just now realised what happened. Gabriel and Lucifer stepped backwards swallowing.  
"Did he just…" Asked Gabriel more from himself than from anything else.   
"Tried to distract us and obliterate us while smiling wholeheartedly? Yes. " Answered Raphael and cracked his knuckles. " Lucifer may have been called the father of lies in the Bible, but who do you think came up with the whole concept of falsehood? Take care of yourself, I am going all out." Raphael flashed his eye towards Chuck and Michael, the archangel almost fell to his knees while the omnipotent being faltered for a second before composing himself. Now the fury that was on his face were multiplied tenfold, and he exuded sheer hatred so strong, that the space around his face began dripping with white hot energy. The droplets of plasma fell into the rapidly growing vegetation of the Purgatory burning it to ashes.  
"Who gave you that, who gave you the power to oppose me?!" Snarled Chuck and pushed himself forward, his whole being boiling with intense hatred. Raphael left his place at the same time. The battle of two being with the power to warp reality is truly a magnificent thing to behold, a thing that few being ever seen in any existence. Michael, Gabriel, and Lucifer was now treated to the whole horrifying aspect of it. Concepts were forged into swords and lances and fired indefinitely. Chuck hurled a handful of singularities against his erstwhile creation, who countered by broken equations never meant to be, and shattered them to the wind. Paradoxical existences, and time clots where hurled against each other over and over again, just to broke against shields made from prime matter or crystallized concepts. Flashes of light erupted from the battling beings, crackles of energy spread into the forest below. A wide arc of warped existence licked the soil of purgatory and trees mutated into screaming crystalline flowers just to melt when the next wave of energy hit them. The air itself began to vibrate and weep infinite probabilities. Simple hydrogen molecules became sentient, made a civilization, and perished in a millisecond by a stray jet of abstract concepts. 

When a huge shard of pure mathematics embedded itself only a couple of centimetres from Lucifer's feet, and began to weep in an incomprehensible mix of ancient Turkish and Navajo, the archangels, at last, realised that they had a job to do aside from standing and staring. They were outclassed that was obvious, but they still might be some use. At the side of the absolute maelstrom of physic tearing screaming madness and chaos, three golden pillars of light slammed against each other. Golden beams of energy scorched the already tortured soil of Purgatory, and from the distance the terrified screams of millions of otherworldly beasts could be heard. Michael dodged a golden beam from Lucifer, just to almost step into the arms of Gabriel. He swept his sword towards him, but it was grabbed by his annoying youngest brother. He, disregarding the proper fighting etiquette for once, just headbutted him, and kicked the advancing Gabriel away just to get a breather. Two against one was a little bit too much for him, especially since they had to dodge the mayhem around them too.   
"WHO GAVE YOU THIS POWER ANSWER ME." Screamed the pulsating clot of raw hatred that was their father from inside the glowing ball where physics and reality lost all their meaning and got tangled up with metaphysical concepts.   
"The Authority." Came the answer from the crystalline being from the other side of the battlefield. For a second, all the reality breaking power of Chuck subsided like a blown-out candle flame.   
"No." He mumbled to himself with disbelief. Then he was stuck in the chest with a lance that wrought together half a dozen contradictory laws of nature and a burst of antimatter. Chuck streaked down from the sky and impacted into a lake of melted methane that was in the process of slowly returning to being forest soil. 

Raphael slowly descended in front of him.   
"You broke faith with them. You betrayed their laws. You couldn’t have thought that they will just let you rampage trough the void, creating worlds and abandoning them like a spoiled brat discarding their old toys."  
"And they sent you…."Chuck slowly emerged from the lake, apparently unscathed. "To hunt me down...I guess they had a poetic day those old fucking farts." He had a mad smile on his face. " But they haven’t told you everything about how being a Creator works have they? The Eye of Dominion might have cut Gabriel and Lucifer away from my direct command, but this is till MY WORLD." Chuck screamed and the whole of purgatory began to vibrate with his words. "MY FANTASY, MY PLAYGROUND, AND HERE I AM THE ONLY, AND ABSOLUTE GOD." The whole of purgatory began to shake, and reality warped itself to Chucks whim and desire. "I WILL UNMAKE YOU. AND I WILL UNMAKE EVERY SINGLE THING THAT REMEMBER YOU, EVERY WORLD, EVERY SO-CALLED BROTHER YOU HAD. YOU WILL BE NOTHING." Raphael flew backwards and prepared to defend itself as the perpetual existence of the Purgatory itself was broken, and the whole realm began to contract around them.  
"You would destroy this world in your childish temper tantrum?!" Yelled Raphael trying to be louder than the howling winds of reality.   
"It is my story. I will decide when, and how it ends." Spat Chuck raising his hand to do as he wanted when suddenly three golden light impacted into his back. 

It was nothing. It was but a bite of the fly. But what it represented, that was something. He turned slowly back, disbelieving.   
"Michael, my most loyal servant, so you too have betrayed me…"  
Michael, standing between his brothers and fighting against the buffeting winds, as space tugged on his wings looked up at him defiantly.   
"No father. I still love you…but, I don’t know how, or why, but now I see the madness in your eye. I can hear the megalomania in your voice. When he looked at me with that eye, it changed me somehow, but it was you who turned me to their side." A tear dwelled up in Michaels eye. "I am sorry father but…"  
"You insignificant little puppet." It wasn’t even a scream, or a yell of rage. It was just disbelief and utter, utter disgust. He raised his hand to stuck down the toys that have rebelled against him, but in his fury, and his confidence in his own invulnerability, he let his mind wander away from his current opponent.   
"Hey ass-butt." Chuck swirled around to react, but it was too late. Raphael was on him, and only a second after something impacted his chest. It was a fist sized chunk of something. Something as in not made of either void, or his own creation. It was a piece of existence utterly alien to him. A fragment from another Creator. It was transparent, and weightless and now it grew like cancer, spreading on his body, engulfing him.   
"No. No, nonononono…." His voice was cut off when the piece reached his mouth and completely outgrew him, creating something akin to a bubble. His face was a picture of utter horror and fear, and he screamed wordlessly in his transparent prison. He tried to put up a futile fight, raging impotently inside an existence not of his own, as Raphael slowly descended with him into the ground. 

The three younger archangels stared at him, and Chuck throwing a temper tantrum inside his time out bubble, dumbfounded.   
"What…just happened?" Asked Gabriel slowly, and reality, now cut off from its main user, slowly readjusted itself to the last stable setting. That is, the perpetuity of the Purgatory.   
"I think, we won. " Chanced Lucifer although it was obvious from his voice that he wasn’t entirely sure of this.   
"Yes. " Answered slowly Raphael and glanced towards the raging Chuck.   
"You didn’t kill him…" Michael slowly stepped closer and then stopped when he caught Raphael's gaze. "I mean, thank you for not killing him."  
"Not for lack of trying. " Murmured slowly Raphael and then shook his head. " A Creator is invincible inside its own creation. You have to trap them in another. Then you can kill them. Unfortunately, the one who gave me this piece of creation…" Raphael raised his hand and hit the bubble of existence so hard that nearby trees where felled in a second just from the wind of it. The ball ripple, but nothing had changed inside , except that Chuck was even more agitated in his wordless screaming. "Had anticipated that I might try something. So, he shut me out. Clever bastard."  
"You would have killed him. Despite what you said to us." Said Gabriel. It wasn’t a question; it was just a flat statement. Raphael looked at him and slowly took a cigarette from his pocket. He put it into his mouth and lit the end of it.  
"Aye. He is a bastard. I hate the fucker. Sorry, but what he did to me, I would have liked to kill him for it. " He glanced towards Chuck, locked in a futile struggle against forces, he, for once in his life, cannot control, and let himself smile a little bit. "This is a close second though."   
"What are you going to do with him?" Asked Michael looking at his father, and only seeing hatred in his eye. "And how did you got this bubble, and the eye for that matter?"  
"I, really shouldn’t say it." Murmured Raphael breathing out a big puff of smoke. Michael gave him a lopsided look.  
"Come on man. If we didn't help you back then, you would have been crucified inside a metaphorical concept or something. You owe us a little. " Said Gabriel as Purgatory finally readjusted himself into its normal self. The forest once again seemed to be ancient, and wild.   
"I thought I gave you your freedom for that. " Raphael snorted, but shrugged and dusted a little bit of ash off the end of his cigarette. 

" All right, listen then this douchebag…" Here Rapahel smacked the bubble, giving a little bit more opportunity for the wordlessly raging Chuck to take its futile struggling up a little "…is something called a creator. Creators, as their name implies, make new worlds, dimensions, whatever you want to call it. And when they do, that world is fundamentally their domain. They are linked to it until they die. And inside their creation, they won't, unless they want to, because they are the ones making up the rules. But, even they have something that watches over them."   
"Who?" Asked Lucifer with barely hid interest.  
"The Authority. It is a loose alliance of Creators. I don’t know what exactly our 'father' did, but he pissed them off, majorly. They must have been in an ironic mood, since they found me to be their agent, and arrange a little date between them and my creator. They gave me the Eye Of Dominion which can sever the absolute connection between a creator and a created. It can only be used on thinking creatures since by nature they are the most independent from their creator either way, but its still a slap in the face for said creator. That’s why 'dad' was so pissed when I used it on you. I made you a free agent, able to get out of his game if you wanted. And of course, they gave me this little piece of space, to trap him, since its being the result of another creator he won't have a power inside it, if that specific creator don’t want him to have any." Raphael glanced towards Chuck who slowly quieted down, or maybe he just gathered strength for another childish outburst. "And now that I finished my task…I think they will take him away." As Raphael said the words, the bubble rippled apparently from nothing, and started to slowly fade away. This gave the push to Chuck to start over his tantrum, but It was once again, futile.  
"They waited until you felt like you finished." Mused Lucifer slowly. Rapphael took a slow puff of smoke from his cigarette again.  
"Did they? Yeah, I think so. Maybe they really are different from our 'father' after all. " The Archangels watched silently as the last contours of the space bubble, and Chuck inside it, faded into nothing.

 

"Farewell father." Murmured slowly Michael his voice was somber and obviously pained. He shook his head and turned towards his oldest brother. "And now what will you do? Now that your Revenge is completed?" Raphael dropped the cigarette and raised his gaze towards the sky.   
"I don’t know, maybe, maybe I stay here for a while. Try to repair some of the damage he engineered." The Archangels glanced at each other, thinking. They too have lost their purpose. They gained absolute freedom, but they haven’t got a clue what to do with it.   
"I think…" Started Gabriel, always the most independent of them. "I think I will settle on earth for a while. Just, live, without fear. Maybe get on the internet. I heard its pretty popular." Lucifer stared at him in confusion, as if it was hard to him to understand why anyone would be amongst the humans, but then shrugged. They gained their freedom. His brothers can do what they want with it. Just like him.  
"Do that, I think I will go around. If Raphael teaches me how to cross to other worlds. To see what's what." Raphael considered this and slowly shrugged, stomping on his discarded cigarette. Its not like it would have damaged Purgatory in any way, but it was a habit by now.  
"If you swear you wont start exterminating humans or something similar. I will consider it." Lucifer cocked his head to the side and slowly shook it.  
"You know, It all seem so childish. Now that I realised none of us were ever loved. It wasn’t their fault, it wasn’t mine. I just want to leave the thing behind, at least for a while." Raphael nodded in acknowledgement and then turned his gaze towards Michael, who was still staring at the spot where his father disappeared.   
"And you Michael?" The archangel didn’t answer for a long time.   
"I will take over heaven. And lead my people…" He answered slowly.  
"You don't have to if you don’t want. Nobody is forcing you. You have no responsibility to do so. " There was another long silence, as the archangel slowly digested these thoughts.   
"But then who will?" Raphael scratched his head, already missing the cigarette from his mouth.   
"Me for a while, but just until I teach them how to govern themselves without killing each other. Back in my world we managed, maybe they will be able to do it too." His voice seemed a little bit wistful, and Michael lowered his gaze ontu his foot, and took a deep breath.   
"You think I can walk amongst them? Without them wanting something from me constantly? I want to know them. Really know them. After father disappeared In their eyes I was their leader, role model, someone who always knew what to do. But I was never someone who belonged amongst them. I led them blindly without ever completely understanding what it means to be a simple angel. I want to change that. Can you help me with that?" Raphael slowly nodded and reached into one of his pockets. Fortunately, that one was relatively untorn, and after a couple of seconds of rummaging around he found something he slowly fished it out. It was a medallion depicting a one-winged angel, made from pure silver. It glinted in golden light when the sunshine struck it.   
"This should do the trick, they if you put it on, they won't recognize you. They will se what you want them to see if they look into your eye." He tossed the medallion towards Michael who caught it with ease. "Never worked with me, I have too much juice for it to supress. But I think it will serve you well." There was another long silence as Michael slowly put on the charm. 

 

"Then, I guess, it’s a farewell. " Proposed Gabriel. His brothers looked at each other, unsure what to say. "I mean, don’t get me wrong, but I think we each have some thinking to do."  
"For now." Michael agreed and folded his arms. In the eyes of his brothers his golden brilliance slowly tempered. The blazing power was reduced to the stream of white light of a typical rank and file angel. If they haven’t seen the change with their very eyes, they would have never believed that it was Michael who was standing in front of them. "I hope it wont be forever." Lucifer made a small 'Tch' sound at that and turned his side towards his brother as if he was preparing to walk away.  
"You won't have that much luck brother. I will be back in a century or so to check on you. You know just to be sure you haven’t screwed it up. " Michael frowned, but it slowly melted into a small smile.  
"That sounds lovely. Thank you Lucifer." The aforementioned archangel frowned and shuddered looking at his smiling brother.  
"Don’t act like that, you are creeping me out." Michaels smile grew a little bit more and he stepped closer.  
"Come on Luci, give me a hug before I go away. From old times sake." His words were warm, and brotherly. It was impossible to know if he was joking or not, especially since Michael hardly ever joked. The morning star shuddered, and stepped a bit backwards.   
"Ew-ew-ew. Come on, we are not kids anymore. Don’t embarrass me in front of Rap…" Before he could finish, six enormous wings closed on the three archangels. They were radiant blue, and although the feathers were made from multi-faceted crystals, it was also soft like silk. Before they could react, the wings drew them closer, and pushed the three brothers into a group hug. There were some shouts, protesting, and even some kicks, but in the end, when Raphael withdrew his wings, the three angels stood beside each other, red faced and embarrassed, but obviously smiling. And Raphael saw that it was good.


	4. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Metatron meets Raphael, and the fate of Chuck is revealed.

Metatron was sitting on the throne of heaven, enjoying himself quiet a bit. He was finally in the place he deserved to be, nobody to push him around, or get in his way. The only thing was, that heaven needed other angels to operate. It was bothersome, but he supposed he could let a couple back in. A few selected individuals. With the right mindset. But for that, he needed an agent on earth, to find these right-minded angels. He slowly rose from the throne of heaven made from solid sunlight and faceted with every jewel, HIS throne now, and made his way towards the secret entrance of heaven. He opened the 42-door, adjusted his collar, and then stepped out to earth. When he arrived, he found himself face to face with a tall man of african descend. The stranger wore an eyepatch, a long very torn coat, cargo pants, and a very disconcerting predatory grin on his face. 

Metatron blinked a couple of times and raised his hand in an effort to obliterate the pesky human, when the being grabbed him by the wrist, still smiling, and simply slammed him against a nearby wall. Metatron coughed in pain, and searched for the angel tablet inside his clothes, but the stranger was faster. The stone slab was already in his hand.   
"Give that back!" He grunted and yelped as the stranger tightened his grip on his wrist.   
"You know." Mused the man as he slowly closed his fingers even more. "My revenge on my father was denied from me. And I was beginning to accept this. But then, it turns out, there is some wanna-be little brat who would like to take up his mantle. " Metatron fell to his knees, as his attacker snapped the tablet between his fingers. He was a different kind of angel; his code was older and much more complex than the one written on the table. Against him, it was just a particularly fragile slab of masonry. "I have to say, you were successful. Using your power to entertain yourself and hurt others. To choose which one to live or die according to your whim. You were an excellent God." There was a crack of bone as Metatrons wrist broke and the angel screamed in pain and confusion. "You burnt your brothers in the fire of ambition. It's fitting that you die by ice. " Frost started to spread on Metatrons wrist and he futilely struggled against it. His body slowly but surely got covered in ice crystals.   
"Who are you? " Screamed Metatron in confusion.  
"I am Raphael. I am the last of the first. I am the archangel of healing. And I am cutting out a disease before it can spread and hurt even more of the innocent. I am sorry, but being too close to father, listening to his every word, turned you into a monster. Farewell brother." The temperature approached absolute zero, and then it dipped even more. It became the concept of cold, not just the absence of energy, but something much more. An impossibility, and that, was capable of killing even angels. Metatrons breathing slowed in the cold, his limbs became rigid and painful. His story would never be written. His glorious dream will die in an unremarkable street by a vengeful archangel from another world. As his vision slowly faded, he could see Raphael stepping into the entrance of heaven, followed by another brilliant golden figure.   
"Damn. I am glad we didn't manage, to seriously anger you."  
\---  
The bubble of space slowly appeared in a brilliant white void. Inside of it, Chuck still struggled, held strong by the tendrils of space coiling around his wrist and ankle. There was a small "Pop" and the bubble disappeared and Chuck found himself floating in the airless nothing. The endless white void rippled, and shapes emerged from it. Indistinct figures made from light and shade, looking at him with eyes blacker than black. The tribunal of the Authority was in session. Chuck raised his hand to open a gate to his own creation, but the motion was fruitless. Nothing happened. Face to face he might have been able to put up a fighting chance against anyone in the Authority, especially in his own creation, but right now, he had no power. Hundreds, thousands of beings on the same level as him, maybe even higher kept their eyes on him. He was a stream trying to flow against the rushing tide of a planet wide ocean. Sounds came from the figures, as they spoke at once, but sometimes they shifted around and reverberating into different words.

 

"Creator Chuck, you are to be punished for your actions." Chuck growled in frustration and incompetent rage. How dare they? How dare anyone judge him?  
"What actions? You are all guilty like me!"  
"No/Maybe" Came the answer. There was a little deliberance. "But we are not the same as you." This was unanimous.  
"You all created worlds just like me! Some of you multiple!"  
"Yes- one/ -a couple/ -a dozen. But we never abandoned them." Chuck scoffed.  
"They are mine to do as I wish to. You ARE the same!"  
"No." Said the Authority with crystalline certainty. "I made my world to- see them develop/ - be watchful over their lives/ -to see them struggle and overcome hardships/ -have someone to love/ -to teach them/ -to not be alone. "  
"Well I did the same"  
"Lies." Declared the Authority " You made them to suffer. You made them to be god. You made them to rule over. You made them to be your puppets, your plaything. I made them to be -the first one to surprise me/-my garden/-my champions/ -my children/ -my students/ -my companions." Chuck looked at them, unable to understand any of it.   
"I can't see the difference."  
"To create is to love. To make is to care. Even in their suffering, we care about our creation. When they overcome their hardships, we let them rest. If they are broken by them, we call them to us, to soothe them. In your world even the embrace of death was made to be a mockery, happened and got reversed to cause more suffering. You had a heaven, it was a tasteless blind thing without the actual companionship of those they loved, without anything to do. It was the suffering of the mind. You made them a world, it was full of pain and no long respite could ever be found. It was the suffering of the heart. And you made them a hell to punish them when they inevitable broke and subjected them to the suffering of the soul. " The jet-black eyes scanned Chuck for the recognition, but there was none to be found. He couldn’t comprehend their point.   
"But you have infinity power, why wouldn't you everything with you want with it, regardless the consequences? We are so much more than our creations." There was a horrible silence, and Chuck felt as if not only every eye was on him, but they were looking trough him. How dare they?! How dare they just do this to him?!  
"That is the entire point. We are -so much more/ -creators/ -higher beings. And thus, we have the potential to become - so much less/ -the embodiments of destruction/ -mindless beasts. If we let our darker impulses to rule over us. " The Authority slowly quieted down and then, in a flash of darkness reached a decision. Chuck screamed in surprise as he not only heard the voices now, but they began to claw their way into his head like a million sharp knives. "You can't see. You can't listen. You can't comprehend compassion. Deaf. Blind. Unfeeling. We will teach you." There was struggling, a flash, and then Chuck was ripped apart into thousands of small shards. All holding only a fragment of the once immeasurable being. Each figure floated closer and took one of the flickering flames with them to their own worlds." You will be one of my -childrens/ -students/ -companions/ -champions/ -loyal retainer/ -a flower in my garden/ -sparks of genius. You will experience, and in time, maybe learn." And with that all of the Authority disappeared back to their own worlds, one by one.


End file.
